Conveyer for feeding articles



29, 3 F. F. RUAU CONVEYER FOR FEEDING ARTICLES Filed Oct. 19, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Aug. 29, 1939. F. F. RUAU 2,171,193

CONVEYER FOR FEEDING ARTICLES Filed Oct. 19, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I L Q l I I I r v 57,- .fi I 5 i mm 5 I Patented Aug. 29, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Flix Frderic Ruau, London, England, assignor to Molins Machine Company, Limited, London,

England Application October 19, 1936, Serial No. 106,486 In Great Britain November 1, 1935 6 Claims.

This invention is for improvements in or relating to conveyers for feeding articles, for example, cigarettes from a supply of such articles.

According to the invention there is provided in apparatus for feeding articles from a supply, a feeding element to move articles away from the supply, a source of suction connected with the feeding element and operative to withdraw an article from the supply to hold the article so withdrawn against the feeding element, and

means operative to agitate the articles comprising the supply to facilitate their withdrawal from the supply.

The invention will be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation illustrating diagrammatically a machine for drying cigarettes, and showing apparatus for feeding the cigarettes from a supply to the drying machine.

Figure 2 is a sectional side view of the apparatus shown in Figure 1 for feeding cigarettes from the supply to the drying machine, and is drawn to an enlarged scale.

Figure 3 is a view in plan of a portion of the structure shown in Figure 2;

Figure 4 shows a modified form of feeding apparatus of the kind shown in Figure 1 and is adapted for feeding batches of cigarettes to a packing machine.

Like references refer to like parts throughout the specification and drawings.

In the example of the invention about to be described, the invention is described with reference to a machine for drying cigarettes. It is to be understood, however, that the invention is applicable to feeding articles other than cigarettes from a supply, and that where herein the term cigarette is used, it is used merely for convenience of description, and is not to be taken as limiting the invention to use with any particular class of article.

The machine shown diagrammatically in Figure 1 for drying "cigarettes is similar to that fully described in United States Patent No. 2,087,697.

In this prior patent, cigarettes to be dried are and are carried from the cigarette making machine by an endless conveyer 4, from which they are removed by a feeding element 5.

The feeding element 5 comprises a hollow rotatable drum mounted for rotation, the periphery B of the drum being provided with flutes 6 which extend longitudinally of the drum and parallel to the axis of rotation thereof. Within the hollow drum there is provided a suction chamber 1, which as shown in Figure 2, is arranged so that 10 as a flute 6 of the drum 5 passes the supply of cigarettes supported by the surface of the conveyer 4, the suction operates through apertures 8 which connect the flute 6 with the suction chamber 1, to withdraw a cigarette from the supply, and cause the cigarette to be held against the cigarette receiving surface constituted by a flute 6. Suction may be applied to the chamber 1 by any convenient means, for example by the fan 26 shown in Figure 2. The feeding element 5 moves in the direction indicated in Figure 2, and each cigarette withdrawn from the supply is carried by the feeding element and is held against the cigarette receiving surface until the feeding element moves the cigarette beyond the range of action of the suction chamber I. As the feeding element moves the cigarettes out of the range of action of the suction element I, the suction "ceases to operate to hold the cigarette against the cigarette receiving surface, and the cigarettes are then supported in the flutes 6. In order to control the cigarettes during their further movement together with the feeding element, a guide member 9, shown in Figure 2 as a shroud, co-operates with the feeding element to prevent the cigarettes from falling out of the flutes as they are moved towards a conveyer III.

The conveyer I0 is shown in the drawings as a fluted wheel, and the cigarettes are delivered from the flutes of the feeding element 5 into the flutes of the conveyer I0, and are carried by the flutes of the conveyer Ill over the surface of a guide II and delivered into the trough-like elements I2 which move the cigarettes through the drying machine. It will be appreciated that if desired, the cigarettes carried by the feeding element 5 may be delivered therefrom directly to the trough-like element I2, and that the conveyer I0 is interposed because the trough-like elements I2 are being moved in a direction such that if the cigarettes were transferred directly from the feeding element 5 to the elements I2, the latter would at the point of transfer be moving in a direction opposite to that of the feeding elements 5. It is desirable that at the point of transfer of the articles into the trough-like elements l2, the members l2 and the surface of the conveyer should be moving in the same direction.

The cigarettes supported by the conveyer 4 tend to pile up against the surface of the feeding element 5, and due to the fact that they are supported by the moving surface of the conveyer l, they are agitated by the slight rotary movement which is imparted to the cigarettes. the fact that the cigarettes of the supply, or at least those cigarettes which are presented to the feeding element, are agitated, that it is possible for the suction to withdraw a cigarette from the supply and to hold it against the cigarette receiving surface formed by the flute 6.

A stop l3 bridges the gap between the surface of the feeding element 5 and the surface of the conveyer 4. While the apparatus is operating to feed cigarettes from the supply, the stop 13 is in the position shown in Figure 2, and provides an abutment against which the cigarettes rest and pile up against one another, and by means of which the cigarettes are agitated, due to the fact that the endless band tends to rotate the cigarettes against the surface of the stop i3. The stop I3 is pivoted at M, and is connected by a lever arm l5 and link [6 (see Figure 1) with a control which may be automatically or manually operated, but which in the preferred construction is manually operated, so that when for example the cigarette machine commences to operate, the stop [3 is swung downwardly, and the cigarettes conveyed by the conveyer 4 pass over the end of the conveyer and fall into any suitable receptacle. When the operator is satisfied that the cigarettes produced by the cigarette making machine are satisfactory, the stop I3 is moved into the position shown in Figure 2, and the feeding apparatus is enabled to function in the manner described above. While the cigarettes are merely being conveyed in single file by the conveyer 4, and the stop I3 is not in the position shown in Figure 2, the suction exerted through the suction chamber, although operating, will not remove the cigarettes from the conveyer 4. If, however, the cigarettes on the band are agitated, the suction will operate to remove the cigarettes from the band even though they are in a single row.

As shown in Figure 2 two thin plates 50 are placed in close proximity with the conveyer 4. These plates are provided to straighten up any cigarettes which are not lying on the conveyer in a manner such that the longitudinal axes of the cigarettes are substantially parallel with the surface of the drum 5. Since the plates are very thin the conveyer 3 causes the cigarettes to roll over the plates.

It is found that the suction which withdraws a cigarette from the supply sometimes operates to withdraw two cigarettes from the supply, the cigarettes then being arranged in a manner such that one is situated within the cigarette receiving surface formed by a flute 6, whilst the other is held against the surface of the feeding element by reason of a leakage which sometimes occurs due to a cigarette within a flute 6 not fully closing the aperture 8. In such cases the cigarettes are moved by the feeding element until they are out of the range of action of the suction chamber I, and it is found that after the suction ceases to operate, that cigarette which is on the surface of the feeding element falls downwardly towards the conveyer 4. In order to prevent the cigarette which falls in this manner from falling back on to the conveyer 4 and disturbing the cigarettes It is due to thereon, a guide I! is provided, and the end of the guide is disposed so that there is just room for a surplus cigarette, carried by the feeding element 5, to pass beneath the guide 11. When however, the surplus cigarette falls from the surface of the feeding element, it tends to remain in the space formed between the surface of the feeding element and the guide H, and thus if it should so happen that one of the flutes of the feeding element does not contain a cigarette after it has passed the supply, the cigarette which is supported by the guide I! will fall by gravity into the vacant flute and will be held in position by the suction from the chamber 1. The guide I! also performs a further function in that it prevents the cigarettes supported by the conveyer 4 from rising to too high a level adjacent the position at which the cigarettes are withdrawn from the supply by the feeding element 5.

If desired, instead of the cigarettes being delivered to a drying or cooling apparatus, as described above, the cigarettes may be delivered to a cigarette packing machine. As is well known, it is customary when packing cigarettes to convey the cigarettes in batches, each batch containing one or more rows of cigarettes, each row comprising a predetermined number of cigarettes, through the packing machine by means of a conveyer such for example as the pocket of a mould chain conveyer. When cigarettes are moved to a packing machine by a feeding element similar to the feeding element 5 above described the feeding element is arranged so that the cigarette receiving surfaces 6 are disposed in groups about the feeding element as illustrated in Figure 4, each group comprising a predetermined number of cigarette receiving surfaces, for example ten; thus if it is desired to pack the cigarettes in two rows, each row comprising ten cigarettes, two groups of ten cigarette receiving surfaces will be arranged about the cigarette feeding element with a space between the two groups. When the cigarettes are delivered to a conveyer of the packing machine by the feeding elements, they will be delivered in two groups of ten cigarettes which may be superimposed one on the other by any suitable means.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. Apparatus for feeding articles comprising in combination a support for the articles, said support comprising a movable surface, a rotatable drum having flutes parallel with the axis of rotation of the drum to receive articles, a source of suction connected with said flutes, the axis of rotation of said drum being arranged in a plane above that of the supporting surface so that the periphery of the drum is spaced apart from the supporting surface, and a stationary member disposed between the drum and the supporting surface and in the path of the articles on the supporting surface whereby relative movement between the supporting surface and the stationary member causes agitation of the articles on the supporting surface to facilitate their removal therefrom by said suction.

2. Apparatus for feeding articles comprising in combination a support for the articles, said support comprising a movable surface, a rotatable drum having flutes parallel with the axis of rotation of the drum to receive articles, a source of suction connected with said flutes, the axis of rotation of said drum being arranged in a plane above that of the supporting surface so that the periphery of the drum is spaced apart from the 75 supporting surface, means disposed above the supporting surface to align the articles relatively to the surface of said drum, and a stationary member disposed between the drum and the supporting surface and in the path of the articles on the supporting surface whereby relative movement between the supporting surface and the stationary member causes agitation of the articles on the supporting surface to facilitate their removal therefrom by said suction.

3. Apparatus for feeding articles comprising in combination a support for the articles, said support comprising a movable surface, a rotatable drum having flutes parallel with the axis of rotation of the drum arranged in groups about the periphery of the drum to receive articles, a source of suction connected with said flutes, the axis of rotation of said drum being arranged in a plane above that of the supporting surface so that the periphery of the drum is spaced apart from the supporting surface, and a stationary member disposed between the drum and the supporting surface and in the path of the articles on the supporting surface whereby relative movement between the supporting surface and the stationary member causes agitation of the articles on the supporting surface to facilitate their removal therefrom by said suction.

4. Apparatus for feeding articles comprising in combination a support for the articles, said support po'mprising a movable surface, a rotatable drum having flutes parallel with the axis of rotation of the drum arranged in groups about the periphery of the drum to receive articles, a source of suction connected with said flutes, the axis of rotation of said drum being arranged in a plane above that of the supporting surface so that the periphery of the drum is spaced apart from the supporting surface, means disposed above the supporting surface to align the articles relatively to the surface of said drum, and a stationary member disposed between the drum and the supporting surface and in the path of the articles on the supporting surface whereby relative movement between the supporting surface and the stationary member causes agitation of the articles on the supporting surface to facilitate their removal therefrom by said suction.

5. In apparatus for feeding cigarettes, a conveyer on which cigarettes are disposed with their longitudinal axes transverse to the direction of movement of the conveyer, an element connected with a source of suction to remove individual cigarettes from the conveyer and means disposed in the path of the cigarettes being moved by the conveyer towards said element to agitate the cigarettes supported by the conveyer so as to facilitate their removal from the conveyer by said element.

6. In apparatus for feeding cigarettes, a conveyer on which cigarettes are disposed with their longitudinal axes transverse to the direction of movement of the conveyer, an element connected with a source of suction to remove individual cigarettes from the conveyer, an obstruction disposed normal to the direction of movement of the conveyer, said obstruction affording no substantial impedance to the movement of the cigarettes by the conveyer but arranging the cigarettes with their longitudinal axes substantially normal to the direction of movement of the conveyer and means disposed in the path of the cigarettes being moved by the conveyer towards said element to agitate the cigarettes supported by the conveyer so as to facilitate their removal from the conveyer by said element.

FELIX FREDERIC RUAU. 

